The USS Nightmare-A REAL Ghost Ship
The HOD!!! arrived at the Nightmare last Tuesday evening for a preview of what is annually one of the area's top attractions. However, on this night something was…different. The gate on the gangplank leading to the ship was locked up tight, but all of the hatches and doors on the event were open. The effects lights were on, and fog could be seen billowing out of the side paddlewheel well. Sounds and banging could also be heard from within, but there didn't seem to be anyone on board, even though the HOD!!! was expected. Time passed, but there was still no sign of life on board, and the ship continued to seemingly operate itself. It was more than a bit disturbing, and led us to believe that the Nightmare had turned into a REAL ghost ship!
As it turned out, the Nightmare's crew had temporarily abandoned her in order to set up shop at the new Nightmare Landing, located at the exit. This floating building is the Nightmare's major new addition, and promises to give hauntgoers something else to do after having taken the 45 minute tour of the haunted steamboat. Our hosts for the evening, Allen Rizzo (resplendent in a USS Nightmare T featuring himself as a zombie) and Brian Robbe (now sporting hair and looking almost…normal!) along with crew members Stampy, Mark, and Tony, sat down in a small dining area off the lobby to 'dredge' up old Nightmare memories and check out the new Landing. There are lots of coin-operated machines and vid games to play here, such as pinball machines, air hockey, crane games, a couple of driving games, water shooting, and basketball. The picture concession is also located here, where hauntgoers can get color photos of themselves superimposed upon scenes from the haunted ship-and this year there's a very cool improvement. Part of the photo package includes a lenticular 3-D shot, and it looks great (if you've seen the covers for the recent Friday The 13th DVD releases, you'll know what we're talking about). A variety of food and drinks are on sale as well as some inexpensive novelty items.
But the big feature attraction here is the Laser Rage arena, complete with a wrestling-style entryway that strobes and shoots out clouds of fog. The HOD!!! suited up to do battle against three of the Nightmare's experienced Laser Rage vets (including our arch-nemesis Brian Robbe and his stooge Allen Rizzo). We had Stampy and Tony of the Nightmare backing us up, but as fate would have it, Stampy charged at the wrong station and ended up deserting the team, making it a 4 on 2 game. Since the HOD!!! was totally oblivious to the fact that 'Red 3' was now 'Green 4', we received what was probably the most lopsided ass kicking in Laser Rage history-while everyone else got at least 19,000 points (and up to almost 68,000), we ended up with 27. Yes, that's right-27 with no zeros. Ouch! This defeat was made easier to swallow by the fact that Allen Rizzo was our one kill (even though Allen ended up as the MVP of Green Team). A later replay with three players per side yielded much better results for the HOD!!!, but we still brought up the rear. It really didn't matter, because ass kicking or not, it was more fun than we've had in a long time-the Laser Rage arena almost looks like the inside of a haunt with darkness, fog, black lights, and a million places to hide. Running around for 8-11 minutes shooting at your friends makes for an excellent time, and is more than worth the 5 bucks it costs to play. If you get the chance, make sure to check it out-I'm betting there will be some big crowds for this. We made Brian Robbe pose for this publicity shot with him lying in a devastated heap at our feet, just because it's the way the situation would have turned out in a perfect world and it was the right thing to do.
As far as the Nightmare itself goes, the local fire marshal required the event to replace all of its extension cords with power strips and regular outlets, so the event took the opportunity to do a major overhaul of the lighting scheme. This brings a whole new look to some familiar rooms, and you'll see a lot of things that'll look new, as they tended to blend into the background in years past. There are interesting lighting patterns such as the well lit 'green wall of water' in one paddlewheel well contrasted with the minimalist, dark lighting in the companion well on the other side. The new lighting also tends to be more subdued, making for a darker and scarier tour.
Steve Schreibeis is again attempting to raise the bar with elaborate and extensive makeups, and the actors have been encouraged to develop and flesh out their characters, taking them to the next level. A couple of longtime Nightmare actors who were gone last year have returned, and among the new recruits for the event is an actor that wowed everyone during the Nightmare's recent Riverfest event. They're currently trying him out in several different rooms to see where he'll be happiest, and also plan to have him do some queue line entertainment. Allen doesn't want to give out details, but says that everyone will know him when they see him. Having grown bored with fire-eating and Laser Rage mastery, Allen has also threatened to don the Captain's attire and on occasion work the crowd and do walkthroughs of the ship.
One of the coolest new things on the Nightmare is something hardly anyone will get the chance to experience-the restored exhaust fan in the kitchen. This thing was so powerful that, as you can see in the photo, it'll pull an iron skillet out of your hand and hold it tight against the grid! Crew member Stampy found that standing under the grill proved to be a 'hair raising' experience as well! Even better than this was when the fan was turned off, sending the skillet crashing down as if a ghost had flung it. It's a good thing small pets and infants aren't allowed in the Nightmare…they'd be prime targets to get sucked up and through the exhaust fan's grate!
And just how did the Riverfest event go? In the words of Allen Rizzo, "It was, I think, the best show we've ever put on. We had Steve Haverkos's people come down from St. Rita's along with our own crew of actors, so we had twice as many characters. Everyone did a fantastic job, and with so many actors we didn't have problems switching them out for breaks during an all day event (the Nightmare operated from noon to 8 that day)". There were also some minor changes made to the ship for the event-in anticipation of Cincinnati's usual scorching early September temperatures, Allen had the roof of the Nightmare painted silver to reflect the sun-something which he stated "takes 10 to 15 degrees off the temperature on the top deck". Sprinklers were set up to help cool off the roof as well, and windows opened to ventilate the area better (with blackout curtains being set up to keep the sunlight out in other spots). The day was overcast, so things became much more comfortable for the actors. It did lead to some incongruous situations that wouldn't happen during the regular nighttime hours, such as the vampires on the top deck standing in shafts of sunlight streaming in from above! After the show had run its course, the combined crews of St. Rita's and the Nightmare sat on the side decks and roof to enjoy the fireworks-the best seat in the house, since the barge shooting off the majority of them was only a stone's throw away!
As the night wore on, Allen continued to come up with more ideas for promotions and also tidbits of the Nightmare's past. One of the more interesting tales involved the one year when the ship was located on the Cincinnati side of the river. "We had a guy come to us who wanted to work as an actor," explained Allen. "He had lost both arms up to the elbows in an accident. At the time, one of our big rooms on Nightmare I was the ending where an actor posing as a customer would ask the people going through if they'd seen a kid wandering around. He'd then point behind them and the guy with the chainsaw would pop up. We put a neck stump appliance on top of this actor's head and put him in the room. People freaked out when they saw him running towards them and waving his arm stumps with that severed head-nobody could figure out how the 'costume' was done! He loved doing it and stayed with us a couple of years". Allen would also like to take some of his crew members to the Nightmare's 'sister' ship to film a video. The sister ship was built at the same time as the Nightmare (which of course was formerly the USS Mitchell) but has been completely restored (using many parts from the Nightmare, some of which turned out to have been taken from the other ship in the first place) and is now a museum. "Imagine if we could film a video there with all of us in period costume, working on and running this perfectly pristine ship. Then imagine cutting away to the same scene on the Nightmare, with the actors in full horror makeup and costuming and the same place on the ship now being rusted and decrepit. It would make for a great line video or one for the site!" laughed Allen. The Nightmare's current video that shows the Mitchell breaking loose from its mooring and crashing against a bridge abutment (the amazing amount of damage can still be seen-just check out the crumbled crew's quarters at the end of the ship facing Nightmare Landing) led to an inquiry last month from a local member of the TV media, who had been tipped that the Nightmare's ceiling had collapsed-it seems that the tipster had been watching the video and thought it was current!
Things look good for the Nightmare-last year, even with the tough economy, they held their final numbers steady. This season they've already had many pre-bookings for the Mess Hall party room (including requests for hours when the Nightmare isn't even operating), and they're looking to raise their online sales 50%. They've also added T-Shirts to their online ticket sales, something many people have asked about in the past. The event has teamed up with St. Rita's for the Dark Combo, where you can get discount tickets for both haunts. Just visit http://www.ussnightmare.com for all the details. With all this going on, it's likely that the 'ghosts' manning the ship when the HOD!!! arrived won't be by themselves for long!
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